8.  The applicant was born in 1965 and used to live in the hamlet Caşinul Nou, the district of Plăieşii de Jos, Harghita County.
9.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
10.  On the evening of 11 August 1990, following a period of increased hostility between the Roma and non-Roma inhabitants of Caşinul Nou, and amid accusations that local Roma had been stealing, between approximately 60 and 400 non-Roma villagers gathered in front of the village church and planned to chase out the entire Roma population. Subsequently, they burned and otherwise destroyed several houses and other property, including the applicant's house and its entire contents. As a consequence, approximately 150 persons were left homeless, while many others, including the applicant and her four young children, faced the threat of being lynched.
Leaving behind all her belongings, the applicant and her family ran away and hid in a nearby field from where they saw the villagers setting fire to the Roma houses.
11.  Immediately after the events the Roma residents of Caşinul Nou lodged a criminal complaint with the Harghita County Prosecutor's Office. In addition to outlining the facts of the case, the complainants identified a number of individuals as being allegedly responsible for the attack.
12.  On 27 November 1990 the Harghita County Prosecutor's Office decided to discontinue the investigation of the case on the ground that, given the large number of persons involved in the attack, it had been impossible to identify the culprits. On the applicant's lawyers repeated interventions and complaints, the investigations were reopened several times but subsequently discontinued. Lastly, on 5 October 1998 the Prosecutor's Office at the Târgu-Mureş Court of Appeal informed the applicant's lawyer that criminal charges were now time-barred. The prosecutor found that the offences had been committed “due to the serious, provocative acts of the victims”, described as follows:
“...in August 1990 several Gypsies [ţigani] from the hamlet Caşinul Nou behaved in a manner contrary to good morals. They severely disturbed public order, which aggravated the conflict with the... [non-Roma] population. These... [conflicts] culminated ... when the Gypsies consumed alcohol in the local pub, and then ... without any apparent reason started beating up peaceful passers-by. In this context the other... [non‑Roma] inhabitants decided to chase the Gypsies out of the hamlet. In order to compel them to leave and not return to the hamlet, they decided to burn [the Roma's] houses down.”
13.  In a final decision of 13 January 1999, the Prosecutor's Office at the Supreme Court of Justice, after having examined the merits of the case, upheld that decision.
14.  On 9 September 1991 the mayor of Plăieşii de Jos purchased a dismantled wooden stable in order to provide the Roma with materials for the reconstruction of their homes. However, it appears from the file that the applicant has yet to receive compensation for the belongings and furniture she had lost during the events.
15.  The Government maintained that it was impossible for them to verify the facts of the case since the criminal file of the investigation into the August 1990 events had been destroyed. Where a decision not to prosecute was taken on the ground that proceedings were time-barred, the regulations applicable at the material time allowed the files to be destroyed. However, the Government expressed their intention to provide any supplementary information in the case should the criminal file relating to the investigations into the events be pieced together or relevant documents be recovered.